Category: Guest Blog Posts

How Best To Show Off Your Home To Prospective Buyers: The Basics

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

staged home

When you’re looking to sell  your house, there are lots of things you should keep in mind about exactly how you should do so. While it’s important to remember that each house is unique and that what works for one property may  not necessarily work for another, there are nonetheless enough expert tips out there that apply to houses on a more general basis. So if you feel overwhelmed by where to begin, here are some ways to get started:

De-Clutter

De-cluttering your home isn’t just about ensuring books, DVDs, and magazines are all neatly put away – although that’s important too. De-cluttering your home for prospective buyers also involves putting away any sentimental trinkets or family pieces you might have on display. Have you got lots of cute knick-knacks or souvenirs from trips abroad? Are there trophies and artwork by the kids on display? For the moment, put them away. Create a blank canvas – allow visitors to envision what the place could look like over what it looks like currently. Your property may be defined by your family now, but it isn’t going to stay that way, so don’t showcase personal effects. This is especially important in bedrooms and bathrooms. De-cluttering also allows you to play up storage areas, which are a big selling point of any home.

Color

The colour of your walls and furnishings also feed into the depersonalising of a space. If the kids’ rooms are painted in their favourite bright colours, it’s worth painting over them in warm, neutral hues instead. Bear in mind that ‘neutral’ doesn’t have to look boring – off-white and beige are all very well, but you can opt for warm yellows or lighter greens and blues too. Honey-coloured walls make for a nice contrast against dark furnishings and make a space feel cosy without diminishing its size. A useful trick to make a room appear bigger is to paint it the same colour as the room adjacent to it.

Lighting

If your house gets lots of natural lighting, play it up. Equally important, though, is the regulation of said lighting through pretty, effective curtains or shutters. Quality window dressing makes a big difference to a room – it has the effect of making the space look more tailored, chic and upscale. For example, if you’ve got a conservatory, or a conservatory-style extension to your house, investing in some nice blinds won’t just improve the look of the room, it’ll keep the sun from shining in your visitors’ eyes as they look around. Your artificial lighting is also vital – it should consist of proper ambient (general or overhead), task (pendant, under-cabinet, or reading), and accent (table and all) lighting for thoroughness.

Scent

Looking through a house isn’t just about the way things, well, look. It’s a sensory experience that can be subtly enhanced in a number of ways. If it’s a warm day, open the windows and let lots of fresh air in. Don’t overuse artificial air fresheners, but at least make sure that rooms smell clean. Place a big bowl of fruit in the kitchen or on the living room table. For an extra homey touch, put some cookies in the oven to bake just before visitors arrive – the smell will fill the house.

External Area

The interior of your property isn’t the only part of your property. Even if you’re not an avid gardener, take the time to ensure your lawn is at least neat. If you’ve got a garden shed, make sure everything’s locked away inside and there are no gardening tools just lying around. Play up the surrounding area as well – is there a train station or bus stop nearby? Or a good grocery store or a great play park for kids? Don’t forget to make mention of those things.

Just get started with these tricks and your home will be looking more show-ready in no time. Have you ever had to stage your home? What methods did you use? Share your advice in the comments!

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A Homeowner’s Guide to the Necessity of Brick Vents

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Masonry has been an artistic form of architecture for many, many years. Old brick buildings are often some of the most appealing sights in towns that are rich with history, and who doesn’t love the character an exposed brick wall inside a home carries? Most of us who aren’t professionals at brickwork or construction view brick structures as extremely sturdy and eye-pleasing, but unfortunately, bricks don’t come problem-free. Moisture accumulation is one of the biggest complications found in brick and mortar frameworks. Although they form a great sealed wall, the porous material actually absorbs dampness and needs a sufficient solution for drying out. Luckily, if this is an issue you happen to be battling or are looking to prevent through home improvement, brick vents can help. Having this type of ventilation system installed can save you from a bad situation down the road.

Mold

It’s common knowledge that when moisture is allowed to sit without having any chance to breathe and dry out it becomes prone to fostering an environment conducive to mold growth, which can cause serious health concerns for you and your family. This can be a frequent dilemma with brick buildings that don’t have proper ventilation. When brick vents are placed into a structure, they allow a good amount of airflow to pass freely through and remove moisture in the process.

Spalling

Too much wetness can also lead to spalling in your beautiful brick building. This happens when moisture has built up in the bricks and frozen, causing them to expand. As they thaw out, they will start to deteriorate and split, crack or pieces will break off. Spalling bricks can’t typically be repaired, so it will take time and money to have them replaced if they aren’t protected from moisture collection in the first place.

Efflorescence

When bricks don’t have suitable ventilation, another way they will make it apparent is through efflorescence. Water containing salt is damaging to brickwork, especially when it becomes trapped inside with no airflow to dry out. This, in turn, will create a chalky distortion on the outside of the bricks, causing your home to now have a discolored appearance. If the exterior wall is protected and able to air out, it reduces the chances of efflorescence greatly.

Vermin

Weep holes are one of the most common ways of ventilating masonry work, and have been deemed a necessary stage in the construction and maintenance of a brick wall or facade. However, it has been realized more and more that these weep holes are actually providing a place for critters to live in and can even be an outright entry point for them to get inside your home. Constructing your masonry project or renovating with brick vents allows for moisture to escape while keeping spiders, mice, termites and other pests out of the wall spacing.

Brick vents can help prevent many predicaments a homeowner may face when weather or other wet elements cause moisture to infiltrate the structure and will also keep the aesthetic quality that brick buildings were constructed to have.

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3 Reasons Why Cleaning Your Home Before Selling Really Does Matter

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

You probably know all about curb appeal. But what do your potential buyers see when they walk in the front door?

Research shows you have as little as 30-90 seconds to make a good first impression. If buyers see grime, clutter and dust when they walk through the front door for a showing, they may decide the house isn’t for them before they have even had a chance to see the property’s best features.

Much has been written about staging a home for sale, but a deep cleaning is just as important. A clean home will give potential buyers that great first impression needed to make a sale. What’s more, cleaning can provide a phenomenal return on your investment.

Get your money back!

If you want to invest a little money into helping the house sell and sell for a higher price, you may want to reconsider the kitchen and bath remodel and look into a deep clean instead. According to a survey, $75 invested in cleaning and de-cluttering can increase a property’s selling price by $1,000-$1,499. That’s more than a 1500% return on the investment!

In addition, cleaning and de-cluttering is the number one improvement strategy recommended by real estate agents. HomeGain surveyed 2,500 realtors and found 98% recommend this strategy.

homegain study

Stop lowball bidders looking for an easy deal

Cleaning a property can not only increase its selling price, it can also help deter buyers who may waste your time with lowball bids. A dirty house may give buyers the impression the owners aren’t invested in the property and are looking to unload it quickly. Unkempt properties can also invite bids from flippers who are only interested in getting the lowest price possible.

However, a little cleaning and de-cluttering can work wonders in presenting a property that is well-maintained and worth a full-price bid. It’s all in the packaging. If the property for sale is presentable and clean, its seller – with the help of the agent – can get the maximum value.

Maximize your homes first impression exposure

The most practical time for a thorough cleaning is just before the agent snaps pictures or takes virtual tour shots to promote the home online. Don’t wait for the open house or the first showing.

Trends are shifting toward online research before purchasing. The 2013 Digital House Hunt report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), conducted in collaboration with Google, looked at how home shoppers are using digital media.

  •  90 percent of home buyers searched online during their home buying process
  • Real estate-related searches have grown 253 percent during the past four years.

With a growing number of homes being researched online, it is important to extend that great first impression to potential buyers viewing your house virtually.

Focus on these key areas

While you want to make sure the whole house has been picked up and lightly cleaned, a deep clean of the entire house is generally not needed. However, there are particular areas that deserve special focus.

  • Entry points of the home should be of utmost concern. In particular, pay close attention to the floors.
  • Living rooms should be organized and cleaned. Getting vacuum lines in pictures helps highlight how clean it is.
  • The kitchen and bathrooms are a must for deep cleaning. There should be no cooking odors present, and the faucets should be shined. The bathroom tiles and tub should get a thorough scrubbing.
  • Deep clean the carpets. If the carpet is dirty or stained, call in a professional to get the carpets looking new again.

For your sellers, sitting on a home for another month means paying mortgage, taxes and maintenance on the wrong home; the one they are trying to sell. Either contact an Orlando house cleaning service or do the work yourself, but cleaning a home before selling just makes sense!

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How Green is Your Furniture?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

The modern sustainability movement is rapidly expanding into all aspects of design. Even design undergraduate students from all creative industries now have to consider the ‘cradle to grave’ lifecycle of the materials, processes, and end product of their coursework assignments as a standard concern. And as a consumer, it is something that we too should consider when buying furniture for our homes. The following article will discuss eco-friendly furnishing and give tips on how you can make your purchases greener.

Reclaimed Materials/Furniture

Furniture made from reclaimed wood can come from a number of different sources. However, it is commonly made from structures that were originally crafted from wood but are now no longer in use – old railway sleepers, for example. Reclaimed wood is usually very strong as well as flexible and wears its dents and imperfections from its former life as a badge of honor. The finish of reclaimed wood furniture is usually stripped back and has a rough, natural-feeling texture. But don’t worry, the timber isn’t splintery or damp like it’s just been ripped off the side of a railway track; it’s kiln-dried and checked for infestation and moisture before it gets re-purposed. Using reclaimed wood also saves 87% of the carbon emissions that would otherwise be used to make the same product from virgin wood, according to the Waste and Resources Action Program. Plus, as well as saving the trees from deforestation, a reclaimed wooden dining table has all the charm and backstory of an expensive antique for around a tenth of the cost.

Bamboo

Bamboo isn’t a type of tree, it’s actually a type of grass – which means it’s extremely fast growing and can be easily replenished; the perfect sustainable building material. Bamboo is very versatile and can used in range of different products – from flooring to blinds to furniture – because the fibres are very flexible and strong. In terms of bamboo’s sustainability credentials, bamboo forests require a lot of water and can deplete the amount of minerals in the soil due to frequent harvesting. But overall, bamboo is still one of the most sustainable building resources out there.

Solid Wood

It is common for solid wood furniture to be handcrafted. You can usually see how the piece was constructed by spotting the visible dove-tail joints. You should also be able to feel the grain of the wood on the surface. If there are carved pieces as part of the furniture’s design, this will be another indicator that the piece is made from solid wood, rather than merely consisting of a wooden veneer.

Although not strictly environmentally sound, solid wood can be seen as the more sustainable furniture material over cheaper veneer coated furniture because the piece will hold together and look beautiful for decades to come. This means that you won’t have to keep replacing broken or out-of-style furnishings in your home. Your solid oak dining table therefore can be fixed, redecorated or handed down through generations.

Certified Sustainable Wood

Organizations such as The Rainforest Alliance and Forest Stewardship Council certify products made from resources that are sustainably grown and maintained fairly by people who have access to education and decent pay. There are thousands of furniture retailers out there that specialize in sourcing certified, sustainably made pieces. So if you’re serious about the environmental impact of your decorating choices, these would be the vendors you’d want to target for your furniture needs.

So there you have the low-down on sustainable furniture. If you have purchased sustainably made pieces of furniture for your home, please leave a comment below.

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How to Turn Your ‘Man Cave’ into a Stylish Bachelor Apartment

Posted on by John Conde

Bachelor pads have a reputation for either looking cold and clinical or being a cluttered mess. However, somewhere in between these two extremes is a homely, stylish and masculine home.

Your home is an extension of you and as a result, it should reflect your individuality. The ‘bachelor pad’ is synonymous with the idealised life of a young, trendy man, so your apartment should be fun, stylish and functional.  It should also be a place where you can relax, as well as a social space for entertaining others.

As a woman, I’ve never lived anywhere that could be described as a ‘bachelor pad’ although I feel I can offer a feminine perspective on what is a very manly space. The most important thing is that your home should have a personality – yours!

Liven Up Your Walls

Nothing feels less homely than bare walls. It makes a room feel unfinished and that is why it’s probably good a starting point for this guide. There is a huge variety of framed prints online ranging from landscape photography to old advertisements, and from abstract painting to graphic design. There is something to suit any person and any room, so pick out a canvas or two that reflect your personality or interests.

Another great addition to a wall is a mirror. It brings in light and makes the room look bigger.

Let Things Grow in Your House

And I don’t mean mould. Pot-plants add a bit of life to a room and help it feel fresh. If you’re worrying that your green-leafed friend may die, then you could always try a cactus, as they are very hard to kill! Bamboo requires infrequent watering too, so if you’re a bit forgetful that’s another stylish but low-maintenance option.

Add a Bit of Colour

A colour scheme that works can really alter the mood of a room. It is important to think about which colours you like and what mood they would create. You may love bright orange but it would be hard to relax in a bright orange cube, so it’s not the best colour for your bedroom!

Good, masculine colours are blue, grey, brown, green, white and deep red. Think about combining two colours that work well together, like a bold red with a muted grey.

Lighting: From Functional to Fun

Lighting can make a real difference to how you use a space. You can make the same room fun or relaxing in the flick of a switch.

Try adding ‘feature’ lights to a living space that allows you to turn off the main lights and create a different atmosphere. Swapping your overhead pendant for some dimmed wall lamps creates a warm, romantic environment – perfect if you’ve got a date round!

Striking Design

You don’t have to fill your home with unique designer furniture in order to get a striking look. Just pick one or two pieces that are a bit unusual and they will draw the eye, such as quirky bookshelves or a uniquely-shaped armchair in the corner.

If your budget can’t stretch to new furniture then you can liven up a room in many other ways, such as reupholstering your sofa in a more eye-catching color or, as I mentioned before, installing a large artwork on the wall (IKEA art is cheap and looks good!).

Create a Social Space

Whether you want to invite friends over or a girlfriend, you want to feel like you have a place where people would actually want to visit.

This involves some thinking about how best to use your space. Try arranging sofas and chairs so that they create a circle or a right angle, providing a place to socialise. No one likes to be left sitting at the end of a straight line in a group of people!

You’ve also got to consider whether you have space for dining with friends. If you do, an elegant glass dining set could add a sophisticated touch to your bachelor pad. If this isn’t for you, another great social space would be a pool table. I’ve heard it is on every man’s wish list, and this one is particularly special as it is shaped like a car!

Simple Yet Stylish

The most important thing to remember is to keep it simple. It’s better to have a few great items that really work, than a whole apartment cluttered with wonderful (yet hidden) things.

When designing your bachelor pad remember that you can have decorative items, which provide a masculine and stylish look – not all trimmings are feminine! And in not decorating at all, your apartment could easily become a genderless and generic box.

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